11 days ago, Anthony Edwards hyperextended his knee and was supposed to miss multiple weeks. 11 days later, he helped lead his team to a game 1 road victory in the second round.
That’s the beauty of the NBA Playoffs, it’s full of surprises.
Today’s Lineup
🐺 Minnesota TimberDAWGS
The Wolves once again show their resilience in a game 1 road win.
🏀 Detroit Strikes First
The Pistons take game 1 from the Cavs on their home floor!
🪦 Playoff Eulogies
One last goodbye to the teams that lost in round 1…
🎉 Happy birthday Chris Paul, Goran Dragic, and Alex Fudge! 🎉
Game Recaps
Timberwolves steal game 1 on the road, hold on to win 104-102 over the Spurs
The 2026 Playoffs have been full of surprises, but Anthony Edwards suiting up for game 1 on Monday night may have been the biggest surprise so far.
After a knee hyperextension suffered in game 4 of the first round vs Denver, it was expected that Ant was going to miss at least a few weeks. Instead, he came back nine days later and contributed 18 points off the bench in his return to action! 🔥
If this first game was any indicator, this is going to be a fantastic series for enjoyers of basketball. Though it was in a losing effort, Victor Wembanyama put up a unique (but maybe not for him) triple double, with 11 points, 15 rebounds, and 12 (yes, 12) blocks, setting a playoff record for most blocks in a single game.
San Antonio had a chance to win it, but a Julian Champagnie (17 PTS, 7/12 FG) three fell just short and the Wolves held on to steal homecourt advantage. Minnesota got a big night from Julius Randle (21 PTS, 10 REB) and another stellar performance from Terrence Shannon Jr (16 PTS, 5 REB).
The Wolves have taken some hits so far in these playoffs, but no matter who’s out there on the floor, they’re going to put up a major fight.
🧠 Daily Trivia 🧠
🏀 🏀 🏀
Pistons pull away from Cavs late in the fourth, take game 1 in 111-101 victory
After completing a 3-1 comeback in round one, the Pistons picked up right where they left off to kick off round two. 🔥
The top-seed in the east got out to a quick start in this one with a 37-21 lead after the first quarter, and they built off their hot opening to ultimately walk out with the win, breaking their streak of nine straight game 1 losses!
Detroit won by committee in this one, with six players ending in double-figures, with Cade Cunningham (23 PTS, 7 AST) Tobias Harris (20 PTS, 8 REB) and Duncan Robinson (19 PTS, 5/8 3PT) cooking on all cylinders. And even though the box-score numbers from him weren’t exactly eye-popping, Ausar Thompson continues to make plays that only few in the league can:
Cleveland did come all the way back to tie the game at 93 apiece, led by Donovan Mitchell (23 PTS) and some hot shooting by Max Strus (19 PTS, 4/8 3PT) but the Pistons closed the game on an 18-8 run to seal the victory!
🏀 🏀 🏀
Elsewhere around the NBA:
Game 1 of Knicks-Sixers felt like a classic example of fresh legs vs tired legs. 😅 The Knicks, who took care of Atlanta in six games, had four full days of rest to prep for game 1 vs a Sixers team that wrapped up a grueling game 7 just 48 hours prior. A rest advantage doesn’t take away from NY’s dominant performance, as they rolled Philly in their 137-98 victory. Jalen Brunson dropped 27 of his 35 in the first half, and New York rolled to a 1-0 series lead!
Five playoff games, five playoff wins. The defending champs stay perfect in their quest to repeat in a statement 108-90 win over the Lakers in game 1. For OKC, their luxury of assets continue to be the difference. No J-Dub? No worries, Ajay Mitchell will go for 22 points in his place. Need a spark plug off the bench? Jared McCain (4/5 3PT) has you covered. LA kept this one close-ish through three, but OKC rattled off a major 4th quarter run to take a 1-0 lead in this series.
Playoff Eulogies
With the first round in the books, let’s show some love to the remaining teams that put up a great fight, but couldn’t quite finish the job!
HOUSTON ROCKETS: Round 1 to the Los Angeles Lakers (2-4)
It cannot be overstated how unfortunate the Fred VanVleet injury was for this team. The young squad took a swing for Kevin Durant, planning to rely heavily on the veteran’s ability to organize all the pieces offensively. Then he tore his ACL a month before the season began and everything imploded. In the first round the Rockets only broke 100 points twice in 6 games.
Thankfully, Houston avoided the ignominy of a sweep after going 3-0. If they hadn’t had a historic collapse at the end of Game 3 (sure would’ve been nice to have a Point Guard there) who knows what could’ve happened. Amen Thompson was incredible. These young Rockets are still of potential- and when VanVleet returns next season the pieces may just fall into place.
BOSTON CELTICS: Round 1 to the Philadelphia 76ers (3-4)
It’s easy to forget this was just supposed to be a gap year. Instead Joe Mazzulla turned Jaylen Brown and friends into one of the best teams in the East. Then Jayson Tatum completed an unprecedented recovery from tearing his Achilles. Then they went up 3-1 on a team they hadn’t lost a series to since 1982. In this league a dream season can become a historic implosion in less than a week.
Blowing a 3-1 lead for the first time in their 79-YEAR franchise history was a rude awakening for the Celtics. A humbling like this may help in the long run. GM Brad Stevens and Coach Mazzulla will be forced to add new wrinkles to their at times robotic spreadsheet-obsessed style. Being two of the smartest minds in the game today, I think they’ll figure something out.
ORLANDO MAGIC: Round 1 to the Detroit Pistons (3-4)
In True Detective, Rust Cohle states that time is a flat circle- that we are caught on a cosmic treadmill and doomed to repeat our actions forever. He must’ve been a Magic fan.
Orlando has blown two 3-1 leads in franchise history. Both have been to Detroit as the #8 seed, both times eliminated by a breakthrough performance by an ascending star. It was a cruel twist- especially for a team that had battled through injuries and managerial drama all season just to fail right on the precipice of greatness. In plain English- this sucks.
Paolo Banchero has cemented himself as a true playoff riser, his 38 PTS in Game 7 only further proving that. If not for a historic scoring drought in Game 6, Orlando might’ve been gameplanning for Cleveland right now. This team is close to something great. They just need to pull the right levers.
Written by Enjoy Intern Ben Gordnier.
Three in the Key
😂 41 Club!
The Lakers-Thunder series has a few 41 year olds playing quite a few different roles…
🤝 Money Mike!
Anthony Edwards shows some deserved love to his vet, Mike Conley.
🔥 Mavs Masai!
Masai Ujiri is the next President of the Dallas Mavericks. 👀
What We’re Enjoying
Which eliminated teams should be the most worried? 🤔
Our main man Kenny’s got you covered with all the answers on the latest episode of Small Ball, breaking down which first round exits should be panicking the most following their playoff exit.
Give it a watch! ⬇️
Signing Off
That’s all for today, Enjoyers! We appreciate you making us a part of your day. We’ll be back on Friday to catch you up on the madness that has been the 2026 NBA playoffs.
See you then!
